Plain City negotiates with Cole West over 1,500-acre development

Plain City is negotiating a development agreement with Cole West for about 1,500 acres in the town's northwest corner, a project that could add about 3,500 homes, Building Salt Lake reported. ^[1]

The homes figure comes from minutes of a July 16 joint meeting of the City Council and Planning Commission, which used an average of 2.3 homes per acre and described the project as one of the largest and most complex the city faces, according to Building Salt Lake. The land is about 20% of the town, and build-out could take 25 years. ^[1]

Cole West wants the whole area planned at once and has argued that 1-acre lots would not bring in enough tax revenue to cover long-term costs for roads, sewer and snowplowing, the outlet reported. Council members raised concerns about keeping the town's rural character and asked for guaranteed minimum shares of larger, traditional lots. ^[1]

The council voted 3-2 to suspend new overlay and rezone applications until its general plan update is finished, with Councilmembers Adam Favero and Rachael Beal voting no after a proposed 180-day limit failed, Building Salt Lake reported. The city attorney said Cole West is vested under the code in place when it applied, and Mayor Phil Meyer formed a committee to give the developer a formal list of the city's concerns. ^[1] The city's minutes of the July 16 meetings record the 3-2 vote on Ordinance 2026-09, with Favero and Beal opposed, and say the Cole West area is roughly 1,500 acres, about 20% of the city's land. ^[2][3]